OU Is Set For Top 25 Women's Basketball Action Saturday at Kansas State

MEDIA INFORMATION

No. 20/21 Oklahoma Sooners
(13-5, 3-4 Big 12)
at
No. 12/12 Kansas State
(14-3, 5-1 Big 12)

Date & Time: Sat., Jan. 31 @ 2 p.m.
Site: Bramlage Coliseum (13,340) - Manhattan, Kan.
Series Record: Series tied 21-21
Radio: Sooner Sports Network - KOMA-AM (1520); Brian Brinkley (play-by-play) & Tara Robinett (analyst). All broadcasts also are available through the OU athletics web site.
TV: Sooner Sports Network - KSBI-TV; Mark Rodgers (play-by-play) & Patti Phillips (analyst)
Rankings: OU - #20 AP & #21 ESPN/USA Today Coaches polls ... KSU - #12 AP & ESPN/USA Today Coaches polls
Real-Time Stats: Live in-game statistics are available through OU's athletics web site.
Web Site: Oklahoma (www.SoonerSports.com), Kansas State (www.k-statesports.com)

PROBABLE STARTERS
OKLAHOMA (13-5)                       PPG          RPG
10    F    Caton Hill                           12.8           5.8
24    F    Leah Rush                          9.0            4.9
34    G   Erin Higgins                        6.2            2.5
35    G    Dionnah Jackson               10.6           5.4
05    G    Maria Villarroel                  13.8            5.2

KANSAS STATE (14-3)                   PPG            RPG
45    F    Amy Dutmer                         1.9              0.8
53    F    Kendra Wecker                    16.3            8.5
03    C    Nicole Ohlde                        16.6             6.9
10    G    Laurie Koehn                       14.2            2.8
34    G    Megan Mahoney                   8.4              6.7

SATURDAY PREVIEW
      The 20th/21st-ranked Oklahoma (13-5) women's basketball team heads to 12th-ranked Kansas State (14-3) looking to snap a three-game losing skid while K-State will be determined to defend its 8-0 home record inside the Bramlage Coliseum.
       The Sooners will face the Wildcats on Saturday, Jan. 31 at 2 p.m. in a game that will be broadcast live by Sooner Sports Network on KSBI-TV in Oklahoma City.
       Oklahoma is lead by a pair of seniors in Maria Villarroel and Caton Hill. Villarroel scores 13.8 ppg, followed by Hill's 12.8 ppg. Hill also tops the team with 5.8 rebounds per contest. Junior guard Dionnah Jackson is OU's most well-rounded players, while redshirt freshman Erin Higgins has been hot from beyond the arc as of late.
       Both teams average better than 70-plus points and 40 rebounds per game. K-State connects on 6.8 three-pointers per game to OU's 5.7. The Wildcats also take care of the basketball a little bit better averaging 15.4 turnovers to OU's 18.2.
       Nicole Ohlde, Kendra Wecker and Laurie Koehn are Kansas State's top offensive and defensive threats as each rank among the Wildcats best scorers and rebounders. Ohlde averages a team-best 16.6 ppg, while Wecker tops the team with 8.5 rpg. Koehn is deadly from three-point range, hitting a Big 12 best 58-of-134 attempts (43.3 percent).
       OU is coming off road losses to Iowa State and Missouri as well as a home loss to Baylor. Kansas State defeated Baylor earlier this week after having its 11-game winning streak snapped at Nebraska last Saturday.

OU-KANSAS STATE SERIES
       The all-time series record between these two teams is tied at 21 wins each.
       Kansas State won the last meeting, 74-45, in Norman, but prior to that Oklahoma had won six straight, including a 69-49, win in the semifinals of the Big 12 Tournament on March 7, 2002. The Sooners also handed the Wildcats a 76-68 loss in Manhattan earlier that season.
       Oklahoma head coach Sherri Coale is 6-3 against Kansas State.

OKLAHOMA (13-5, 3-4 BIG 12)
       What has happened to the Sooners? It's really not what has happened to the Sooners, but what has happened to the Big 12 Conference? No longer are there easy teams or automatic wins (home or away), as OU and several other league opponents have found out this season.
       Over the course of Oklahoma's three losses, the Sooners have shot the basketball pretty well, hitting 40.2 percent from the field and 32.7 percent from the three-point line. However, OU's opponents have shot a 45.8 clip from the floor and 45.5 percent accuracy from the arc. OU has also slid a bit in rebounding averaging 31.7 boards to its opponents 34.7 rpg.
       Not to long ago, Oklahoma led the Big 12 Conference in field goal percentage defense and three-point field goal percentage defense. Against league teams, the Sooners still top the chart with a .365 field goal percentage defense mark. Defense is something head coach Sherri Coale requires from each player, so expect defense, rebounding and good shot selections to be key topics during preparation for Kansas State and remaining Big 12 opponents.
       Lack of senior leadership is also hurting the Sooners right now, as Maria Villarroel and Caton Hill averages have dropped to 6.7 and 8.0 points per game, respectively, against the last three opponents.
       A bright spot has been redshirt-freshman Erin Higgins performance from beyond the three-point line. Higgins has connected on 12-of-26 attempts for a 46.2 accuracy recently.
Another pleasant surprise has been sophomore Antoinette Wadsworth. Wadsworth has improved her averages to 5.7 points and 5.3 rebounds over the past three games. She is also shooting 66.7 percent from the field (8-of-12).
       Junior guard Dionnah Jackson has remained consistent averaging 11.7 points, 4.0 rebounds, 4.7 assists as well as shooting 40 percent from the field and 83.3 percent from the free throw line over the past three games. For the year, Jackson has been OU's most dependable player with 10.6 points, 5.4 rebounds and 5.2 assists per game.

KANSAS STATE (14-3, 5-1 BIG 12)
       Coach Deb Patterson and the 12th-ranked Kansas State Wildcats enter Saturday's game with a 14-3 overall record and a 5-1 Big 12 mark, which is tied for second best in the league.
       The Wildcats are one of the most balanced teams in the Big 12.
       Senior center Nicole Ohlde, a 2002 All-American, is having a strong season. Ohlde ranks fifth in the Big 12 and leads the Wildcats in scoring with 16.6 points per game, while ranking 12th in the league with 6.9 rebounds per contest.
       Junior Kendra Wecker also enters Saturday's game as one of the top scoring threats in the conference, averaging 16.3 points per game. Wecker also ranks third in the league in rebounding, averaging 8.5 boards per contest. The Marysville, Kan., native is one of the hottest three-pointer shooters in the Big, hitting an solid 45.7 percent (16-of-35) from the arc. Wecker also has seven double-doubles on the season.
       Junior Laurie Koehn adds a perfect complement on the perimeter to Wecker and Ohlde's dominance in the paint. The 5-8 guard is averaging 14.2 points per game while leading the Big 12 with 3.4 three-pointers made per game. Koehn is shooting 43.3 percent from three-point range.
       Junior forward/guard Megan Mahoney gives KSU three dangerous threats from three-point range. The Sturgis, S.D., native has connected on 31.7 percent of her long-range attempts. Mahoney has become a better rebounder, averaging 6.7 boards per outing, and leads the Wildcats in assists with 4.8 per game.
       As a team, Kansas State is shooting 30.8 percent from three-point range, while connecting on 6.8 three-pointers per game. Their performance from three-point range has helped the Wildcats rank as the second-best shooting team in the Big 12, connecting on 47.5 percent of their field-goal attempts. KSU is outscoring the opposition by 21.4 points per game and owns a rebouding margin of +9.1, 701-to-547.

UP NEXT
       After a two-game road swing, Oklahoma will take advantage of its bye week next Wednesday. The Sooners are idle until hosting Texas A&M (7-11, 0-7 Big 12) on Sat., Feb. 7, at 12 p.m. inside the Lloyd Noble Center for their first Fox Sports Network telecast.
       Earlier this season, Oklahoma slipped out of College Station with a 65-56 overtime win over the Aggies. In that victory freshman forward Leah Rush produced her first collegiate double-double with a career-high 17 points and 10 rebounds (three offensive and seven defensive) while playing a personal-best 37 minutes. She also made and attempted a career-high 9-of-11 free throws, including four in overtime. The Amarillo, Texas, native scored six of OU's 10 points in OT.
       Senior guard Maria Villarroel had a game-high 21 points and 13 rebounds for her second career double-double. Senior forward Caton Hill also had 13 boards. For the game, OU shot 39.3 percent from the field (24-of-61) and a poor 15.4 percent from the three point line, hitting just 2-of-13 shots from the arc. TAM connect on a low 28.2 percent from the field and 27.8 percent from the arc. Oklahoma outrebounded the Aggies, 59-44, however TAM forced the Sooners into 23 turnovers.

WADSWORTH EARNING P.T.
       Sophomore Antoinette Wadsworth has been one of the few bright spots for the Oklahoma Sooners as of late. The Grand Prairie, Texas, native has improved her averages to 5.7 points and 5.3 rebounds over the past three games. She is also shooting 66.7 percent from the field, hitting 8-of-12 shots including her first three-pointer against Oklahoma State.
       Against the Cowgirls, she had seven points, seven rebounds and hit 3-of-6 shots. At Missouri, Wadsworth grabbed a career-high nine rebounds (seven defensive), scored eight points and hit 4-of-5 shots from the field (80%). She also had a block shot in each game.
       Wadsworth is OU's most explosive post player and one who has earned additional playing time.
       The 5-11 forward has scored and has had a rebound in 10 games. For the year, she's averaging 2.5 points and 3.0 rebounds per game plus shooting 42.4 percent from the floor.

OU VS RANKED TEAMS
Oklahoma is 1-12 against teams that are ranked in the top 5 and 26-41 vs. teams ranked among the top 25 under current coach Sherri Coale.

THE RECORD TO WATCH
Senior Caton Hill is 44 rebounds short of 1,000 and 26 shy of 1,500 points. If she reaches the 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds mark she will become just the second Sooner in school history to do so. Molly McGuire is currently the only Sooner to hold this honor. She scored 2,187 points and grabbed 1,071 rebounds from 1980-1983.

HIGGINS BREAKS OUT
       Redshirt-freshman Erin Higgins ranks sixth in Big 12 Conference games for three-point field goals per game with 2.29. She has hit 16 of her 29 made three-pointers over the past five games. During this time span, Higgins has shot 45.9 percent from the arc (16-of-35) and averaged 9.6 points and 3.2 rebounds.
       For the season, she's contributing 5.8 points and 2.5 rebounds per game plus of her 29 field goals made, 25 have been from beyond the arc.
       Higgins matched a career-high 18 points against Baylor Saturday with the assistance of a personal-best six three-pointers. The three-point specialist also canned two crucial treys in OU's come-from-behind 65-56 overtime win at Texas A&M, followed by two 3s against Oklahoma State and at Iowa State.

COALE WORKING TOWARD ANOTHER MILESTONE
Sooner Coach Sherri Coale looks to surpass another milestone in her coaching career this season. The eighth-year head coach has 145 career victories and looks to collect her 150th before season ends.

JACKSON SOLID ACROSS THE BOARD
       Junior Dionnah Jackson may not be flashy in how she scores, rebounds or passes the basketball but her production across the board deserves a standing ovation. The St. Louis, Mo., native has one of the most impressive stat line in the Big 12 Conference.
       Jackson averages 10.6 points, 5.4 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 2.5 steals per game plus shots 45.5 percent from the field and 83.3 percent from the free throw line as a 5-9 point guard. She ranks among the league's best in SIX Big 12 only categories (steals [2nd], assists [4th], assists/turnover ratio [7th], blocked shots [12th], defensive rebounds [13th] and scoring [28th]).
       In addition, Jackson is OU's second best rebounder at 5.4 rpg and is tied for first for best free throw percentage, shooting 83.3 percent.
       In Big 12 games, she's dished out 5.0 assists, pocketed 2.7 steals and grabbed 5.3 rebounds per game, while scoring 9.9 points a game.
       Jackson has had more assists than turnovers in 15-of-18 games, including seven assists to zero turnovers in the season opener against ORU, six assists to zero turnovers vs. Nebraska and seven assists to just one turnover against then-No. 2 Tennessee.

REBOUNDING WARRIOR
Senior Caton Hill has proven she's a warrior on the boards by becoming Oklahoma's all-time defensive rebounder before being sidelined last year. The 6-1 forward has 670 defensive boards for her career and currently averages 5.57 defensive rebounds per game against league opponents. The Ada, Okla., native also contributes 6.3 rpg.

FRESHMAN STARTING TO STAND OUT
       Freshman Leah Rush produced her first collegiate double-double against Texas A&M (J14) in College Station to assist OU to a 65-56 overtime victory. In her first start, Rush recorded a career-high 17 points and grabbed 10 rebounds while playing a personal-best 37 minutes. She also made and attempted a career-high 9-of-11 free throws, including four in overtime. The Amarillo, Texas, native scored six of OU's 10 points in OT.
       She followed that performance with a 12 point and a career-best 12 rebound showing at Iowa State (J20) two games later.
       She ranks second on the team with 11 block shots and is shooting a solid 81.0 percent from the free throw line. She ranks among the Big 12 freshmen top 10 in five different categories including third in rebounding (4.9 rpg) and fourth in scoring (9.0 ppg).

JACKSON CHASING ASSISTS RECORD
Junior guard Dionnah Jackson (St. Louis, Mo.) has dished out 91 assists this season, ranking her fifth on Oklahoma's all-time assists chart with 355. In Big 12 play she's averaging 5.1 per game, fourth best in the league. She also ranks third in overall games with 5.0 apg. The 5-9 point guard has dished out four or more assists in 13 different games and has had more assists than turnovers 15 times this year.
Former Sooner Angie Alexander's 367 (8) assists ranks fourth, while LaNeishea Caufield ranks third with 377 (+18). Jackson looks to past both of them before season ends. Sharee Mitchum ranks second with 601 assists and Sooner great Stacey Dales-Schuman holds the school record with 764 assists.

SMALL BUT DANGEROUS
       One of the biggest threats, but smallest bodies on the OU roster is senior Maria Villarroel. Villarroel stands 5-8 and weighs about 125 pounds. Most opponents didn't consider her that big of a threat considering her size. However, after averaging a team-high 15.0 points and ending the season ranked 14th in the NCAA in field goal percentage, shooting 57.6 percent, this year's foes think differently.
       Villarroel, a guard, continues to be the team leader in field goal percentage, shooting 57.2 percent (95-of-166). She also leads the team with 13.8 points per game and ranks third in rebounds with 5.2 boards per outing.
       Villarroel has recorded double digits in scoring in 14 games and has grabbed four-plus rebounds in all but two contest. She has produced a field goal percentage of 50 percent or better in 15 contests.
       However, over the last three games her averages have dropped to 6.7 points and 3.3 rebounds per game but has turned the ball over 12 times to four assists. Villarroel has hit 8-of-16 attempts from the field for 50 percent field goal accuracy.

SOONER BENCH POWER
Out of Oklahoma's 1,357 points scored this season 32.7 percent (444 points) has come from its bench. The Sooners have scored 20-or-more points from its non-starters in 11 games, including 37 points from its reserves against Oklahoma State (the same total OSU scored as a team).
As a group, OU reserves have outscored the opponent subs 444-279. The largest differences between the two benches was when OU got 37 points to Southeast Missouri State's 6 (+31).

JUST IN CASE YOU WANTED TO KNOW
Oklahoma has shot 40 percent or better from the field in 11 games, while holding nine opponents to below that figure ... no team has shot 50 percent or better against the Sooners ... from the three-point line only three teams have shot over 40 percent vs. OU (Tennessee, 43.8% [7-of-16], Iowa State, 50.0% [8-16], Baylor, 53.3 [8-15]) ... OU ranks fourth in the Big 12 Conference in three-point field goal percentage defense, holding opponents to just 28.9 percent from beyond the arc ... Oklahoma has dished out more assists than its opponents, except Iowa State, and has had more steals in all but three games ... OU freshmen class account for 28.9 percent of the team's total offense (392) points) while the starters are responsible for 68.6 percent of the points (931) and 55.3 percent of its rebounds (424) ... largest margin of victory this season has been 50 points over Oklahoma State (J17) ... the Sooners have hit 50 percent or better from the field in seven games ... OU has set three team record under the Sherri Coale Era, most team rebounds (68) and most attempted shots (80) against ORU (N22) and most blocked shots (9) against Wichita State.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

OU Is Set For Top 25 Women's Basketball Action Saturday at Kansas State

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